In the last 20 years, the single lens reflex (SLR) 35 mm camera has become a de facto standard for many professional photographers as well as thousands of amateurs. Photographers with any serious interest in the finer nuances of the art of photography tend to use at least one camera body, and often several, and several interchangeable lenses. A typical complement of lenses includes at least one fixed focal length lens and at least one with a zoom characteristic over a range of focal lengths. Most professional photographers will want to carry multiple camera bodies into the field when performing a job, particularly when there is action involved and there is not time to change lenses while shooting different pictures requiring lenses of differing focal lengths and aperture characteristics. Additionally, many photographers will use lenses of differing apertures in order to provide various depths of field under various light conditions.
Proliferation of the use of interchangeable lens single lens reflex cameras has led to a corresponding growth in the use of pieces of luggage for carrying and storing camera equipment. In particular, prior camera carrying bags have tended to fall into two categories. The first is soft-sided bags with selectively moveable and attachable partitions that are designed to carry at least one camera body and have the selectively locatable partitions segment the volume of the bag to accommodate multiple lenses. Many such bags have an external pocket permanently attached thereto for holding film. Such bags are normally carried either by a handle or shoulder strap.
Some professional photographers have used hard sided cases with customized foam inserts with cutouts for accepting particular lenses, camera bodies, accessories and the like. These are particularly suited for carrying relatively large volumes of camera equipment when traveling. For example, storage of camera equipment in such a hard sided foam lined case is useful for transporting the camera equipment as checked baggage on airplanes. However, bags of this type designed to carry multiple camera bodies and multiple lens alternatives, together with accessories such as a significant supply of film and various filters, tend to be relatively large. Also, such pieces of camera carrying luggage typically are hinged in either a clam shell manner or along the longest dimension of a pair of rectangular panels and thus, need to be opened completely before their contents can be accessed. Thus, it is often difficult when carrying camera equipment in such luggage to be able to access the appropriate body and lens, in relatively cramped quarters, such as traveling on a vehicle to a shooting location.
Thus, the prior art use of customized hard sided luggage for transporting a significant amount of camera equipment, particularly by professionals, is effective but lacks some of the conveniences of other forms. The cases tend to be relatively large and are rarely appropriate for carrying on to an airplane when a significant amount of equipment such as multiple camera bodies and multiple lenses, are carried. Additionally, changes in the photographer's compliment of equipment when using such bags requires modification of the custom lining of the case. The use of soft bags carried via handles or shoulder straps tends to be easier to carry on, but often leads to configurations where multiple bags must be carried in order to carry a sufficient compliment of equipment for many professional photography jobs. Since many professional photographers fly by commercial air travel to various job locations, it is desirable to provide an improved camera bag with a capacity similar to that of prior art hard sided foam lined cases, some of the convenience, both with respect to access and carrying, of soft sided bags, and which may be conveniently carried on to the passenger cabin of an airplane as carry-on luggage.
Most professional photographers desire the ability to carry as much camera equipment into the field while performing their work under circumstances that do not exhaust the photographer from the job of carrying. Therefore, it is highly desirable to have a camera bag for use by a professional photographer which has a high capacity, including the ability to provide the photographer with ready access to multiple camera bodies fitted with different lenses. It is further important that such a bag be arranged for rapid opening and closure and easy carrying in the field. The present invention meets this need as well as providing some additional features of utility and convenience.